Empowering Children to Make a Difference to Society

Above, the children created their own campaigns using filmmaking and persuasive writing

Laura Venn and Sarah Davey explain why empowering children to implement change is transforming their outlook on the world

A change is in the air – you can see it all around. People are becoming more aware and enlightened on the rights and wrongs in our society, many of which are hidden or disguised as “normal”: gender inequality; negative stereotypes; animal cruelty; and the destructive effects of pollution. We often fear change, but it isn’t always something to be afraid of. Because with change comes hope: a hope for a better future, both for us and for the generations to come.

The Change It project, from literacy resource A Tale Unfolds, encourages children to find their voice, learn about the features of a campaign through persuasive writing, and create their own campaign film.

Change It is supported by change.org, a website that enables people to share online campaigns and provides them with a platform for change. Initially, the project focused on an example campaign against the selling of battery-farmed chicken eggs. This was only supposed to be a brief introduction to the power of one person’s opinion, but for our Year Six children at Tubbenden Primary School, it was the beginning of something huge.

Children are infamous for asking “why?”, and their sense of wonder and enthusiasm to explore the world is accompanied by the compelling ability to question what’s around them. In the classroom, this curiosity can often lead the learning into fascinating detours and tangents, allowing us to delve into subjects we never would have thought to explore together.

By introducing the topic of battery farming to our classes, along came questions like, “what is battery farming?”, “why do they treat animals like that?”, “what happens to the chicks?”, and “are cows treated any better?”

The next day, one girl brought in a letter of complaint that she had written and wanted to send to a fast-food chain. And it was not long before all of our children had written letters to companies asking for a fairer treatment of animals, as well as a persuasive request for new school equipment and an impromptu campaign against wet play. Our children had found their voice: they wanted to be heard and they knew their opinion mattered.

Above, Year Six pupils at Tubbenden Primary School, Orpington

That was only the first part of the Change It project, and already the pupils were empowered. Further along, our attention turned to the wasteful volume of plastic we use every day, a topic that we had studied in great depth before through A Tale Unfold’s Plastic Times.

Before we had even started, there had been rumblings among some children about the wasteful use of plastic in schools, but this noise was becoming louder. So, never ones to let a learning opportunity pass, we dived into the study of plastic waste and its impact.

In one particular lesson, we armed ourselves with notebooks, pens and critical eyes, to survey the school and identify how plastic is used around us. It’s one thing to talk about how the world needs to reduce plastic use, but it is crucial to look at our own surroundings and provide a meaningful context for the children. Our Year Six pupils had wanted to make a change for the better, and they now knew where to start and how to be heard.

Finding your voice doesn’t just mean being heard out loud, but rather, having an opinion of your own. The Change It project enabled the children to find their voice, encouraged them to share their opinions and enabled us, as teachers, to support them in doing so.

All too often, young children are taught what they should think by adults – be it religion, political views, morals or even which football team to support. However, it doesn’t mean they should share these opinions, too. A child’s view should be valued and we should be listening.

In only a few months time, our wonderful Year Six pupils will be at Senior School. And in only seven years time, they will have the power to vote and have their say. Let’s make our own change, and empower our children to make a difference.

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